Suburban darling Yum Kitchen and Bakery now open in St. Paul

Yum Kitchen and Bakery's new location is now open on the ground floor of the new Harper Apartments on the corner of St. Paul's Snelling and Selby avenues.

The new outpost features a wide-open dining room surrounded by giant windows, beer, wine and a year-round side patio with a wall that will open onto Selby Avenue when the weather cooperates. Around the back there is a small parking lot with free parking dedicated to restaurant customers.

Owner Patti Soskin was on hand opening day, greeting guests and talking through the highlights of the menu, which spans coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner and a pastry case stocked with cupcakes, cookies and pastries. The menu is the same fans have come to love at the other two Yum locations — in St. Louis Park (4000 Minnetonka Blvd.) and Minnetonka (6001 Shady Oak Rd.). But unlike the other two, there will be a handful of adult beverages offered in St. Paul, including bubbly prosecco.

This expansion has long been in the works as part of the newly constructed multiuse building, which stands in the former O'Gara's Bar & Grill location. Soskin and her husband, Robbie Soskin, first looked at this space more than three years ago.

The location is a bit of a homecoming for Soskin, who grew up in nearby Highland Park. Her grandfather owned a plumbing shop just around the corner.

"My dad grew up behind the plumbing shop," she told the Star Tribune in June. "When we filed the legal papers, we used 'Yum! Homeland' as the legal name. It's my old stomping ground. It feels like home."

164 Snelling Av. N., St. Paul, 651-615-1230, open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily.

Yum Kitchen and Bakery is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Online ordering is coming soon through the website. Yum Kitchen and Bakery yumkitchen.com, 164 N. Snelling Av., St. Paul